Japanese Food in Japan: Sushi on Subways, Plastic Noodles, and More

by James Oliver Cury

on 08/17/09 at 07:41 AM

Editor in chief Tanya Wenman Steel reports from Japan:

My family and I are on our maiden trip to Japan and while I've long
eaten Japanese food in the U.S., nothing prepared me for the difference
in the way the food tastes and the manner in which food is sold.

Examples: Plastic food (pictured above) sits outside many restaurants as a way to entice potential customers inside and
sushi is sold in the subway.

We've had incredible katsu (breaded pork cutlets) in a hidden
restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district, tofu the consistency and color of
custard at Tokyo's Mandarin Oriental, and black-sesame soft-serve ice
cream from a store that also sells fans near Kyoto's Kiyomizudera
Temple.

Tomorrow we will venture out about 4 am to visit the Tsukiji
fish market, one of the world's biggest (we will be up anyway due to
"flight lag" as my kids call it) to watch as the enormous tunas get
weighed and we can then take a bite of sunrise sushi. And then dinner
in Beijing. 'Tis truly a trip of a lifetime.

Ditto!! Our Japanese food has been dumbed down, blanded out, taste deprived, etc. I can dump tablespoons of hot mustard on my asian food here so I thought the same when I was in Japan. I almost burned my face off!! Even their hot mustard has been diluted to suit our mild American tastebuds.

mizk1
12:37:10 PM on
08/18/09

Yes - the food has been dumbed down. This is because the original taste of "ethnic" food is meant for the ethnicity concerned - which others usually find difficult to accept - unless they are very open to different tastes. Whenever I'm in Bangkok - I go to this little food stall in the middle of the market which has everything available for sale set out and choose by pointing at what ever looks good to me - and 1 thing which I would normally never look at - and have I come across some doozies BUT - have had some great food added to my memories as well.

devora1
02:22:00 PM on
08/17/09

It's amazing how different these cuisines are when translated thru many American restaurants. In Japan, China, and Thailand I ate in tiny local places where the flavors were soooo different from the same dishes I'd tasted in the US. Why is that? Do we get what we ask for (food that been dumbed down)?

birdynerdy
11:04:44 AM on
08/17/09

Nothing is better than the fresh fish for sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji market! Do yourself a favor and wait in line to go to a sushi place that is packed... there is a reason for it!